Tigers sweep double feature

STOCKTON - Despite a blistering start, the Pacific men's basketball team couldn't get separation from a UC Davis team that was without its best player Saturday night.

Jagdip Dhillon

STOCKTON - Despite a blistering start, the Pacific men's basketball team couldn't get separation from a UC Davis team that was without its best player Saturday night.

The Tigers began the game by making nine of their first 12 shots and jumping out to a 10-point lead in the first four minutes, but the Aggies kept working and made it a struggle for the rest of the night, erasing a few double-digit deficits to get back into the game. Pacific never gave up the lead and earned a 77-64 Big West Conference victory before 3,247 fans at Spanos Center. The Tigers (13-8, 7-2) have now won seven of their past eight games.

The annual "Pacific Plays Pink" doubleheader began with the Pacific women's team defeating Long Beach State 69-53 to remain in first place and improve to 18-3 overall, 8-1 in Big West play and 11-0 at home. Donations were taken during the game with all proceeds going to St. Joseph's Medical Center to help fund breast cancer research.

Sama Taku led a balanced attack on offense for the men with 15 points, but the Tigers couldn't cool down the Aggies (8-12, 4-5) despite the absence of leading scorer Corey Hawkins (19.7 per game) because of a lower body injury. UC Davis made 10 of 23 from 3-point range, with Josh Ritchart netting 22 points.

"They spread us out pretty well and Ritchart had a great game. If he has an average game, we could have really broken that one open," Pacific coach Bob Thomason said. "I thought we played well, especially the way we started the game. Our subs just weren't able to separate the score for us."

Thomason was especially pleased with the play of his guards with Taku, Lorenzo McCloud (12 points, career-high nine assists), Colin Beatty (12 points) and Rodrigo de Souza (five points, two steals in 17 minutes) all contributing.

Thomason said he was most impressed with McCloud's patience within the offense, noting the senior point guard didn't rush anything and instead kept probing for better looks.

"Guys were setting great screens and I was just trying to penetrate and find my teammates," McCloud said. "Guys hit shots tonight."

Pacific made 48.2 percent of its shots, including 9 of 19 on 3-pointers.

The Pacific women's team wasn't as hot from the field, but still won handily for the second time in three nights, this time against the tough-minded 49ers (11-10, 4-5). The Tigers played well in enough spurts to eventually put away Long Beach State, which had tied the game a few times early in the second half despite Pacific building an 11-point lead in the first half.

The Tigers won despite shooting just 32.8 percent from the field. Pacific coach Lynne Roberts credited Long Beach State's multiple defensive looks, which included a triangle-and-two, for disrupting her team's offensive flow.

"Our shots were disjointed and not in the rhythm we're used to," said Roberts, who called the annual pink event her favorite home game. "But we gutted it out."

Sophomore center Kendall Kenyon was a force in the paint for Pacific finishing with 16 points, 18 rebounds, three blocks and four steals. It was the fifth consecutive double-double for the St. Mary's High product, but her biggest impact was made on defense.

Pacific had 18 steals and 33 points off 49ers turnovers. Senior guard Erica McKenzie made up for a subpar shooting game (2 for 9) with six steals, while fellow senior Kendall Rodriguez had 13 points and four steals.

"Usually we can get away with some lapses of intensity, but they played so hard, they were able to close on us, so you have to give them credit," Rodriguez said. "We played hard, but they made it awkward for us."